Breaking Curses
by FairyNiamh
Summary: Stiles life is not an easy one, but with the help of his wolf, things aren't that hard. (Fairy Tale story w/Happy ending.)


Once upon a time, in a land rather near, there lived a boy. He was not royalty, rich, or popular, but there was something about him. Something, which could not be put into words clearly.

Still, the people and the creatures of the land would flock to him when he ventured from his home. Which was a delightful and fearsome event for the boy. See, the young man was dreadfully afraid of his fellow man.

He had seen the atrocities that they had performed upon each other and Mother Earth and it chilled him to the core. He had seen that they could be kind, but he had felt that they were few and far between. The humans, who had earned his trust, were brought in on his inner circle and treated with the same kindness and care; that he showed the animals.

There had been a few to cause him to falter. A few who had found out his buried secrets and fears; then used them against him. They would mercilessly whisper the words he had kept close to his chest.

Whispers of his perceived sins. Sins, which were usually said in hushed tones, in the corner of his mind. All about his malevolent deeds. Both false and true. Moans of how his sins had caused the death of his mother and the insanity of his father.

Never mind that they had taken a vow of Til' Death do They Part. Their vows had been in place well before his conception. Still, people believed that it had to be the boy's fault, as he was there, alive, and they weren't. Therefore, it was easy to pin the blame on him. To cast him in a light that even rose-tinted shades could make beautiful.

When the boy had reached the age of ten, his mother had passed from natural causes. On her deathbed, the vow between mother and father was such that a child could harbor no hopes of keeping his father tethered and sane within the mortal realm. The man was only in his mortal coil because he had promised his wife to watch over their child until he had reached adulthood.

There had been a debate of the age of adulthood in this situation. The courts could not remove him from his father's care without killing the man prematurely, yet they had no one who could move in and help the young boy either. Therefore, the court moved them to a small house at the edge of town and hoped for the best. Which was not as good as a young child needed.

His childhood home was seized by the government and held in trust for the young man. They would rent it out to people in need and use the money gathered to assist in the care of the boy and father.

If the age of adulthood had been up to the boy, he would say he was an adult the day his mother passed. As that was the day, everything fell into his lap. At the age of 10, he was in charge of paying the bills and keeping the house in working order. Every day he would push his dad to eat, to bathe, to talk to him, and on the good days, he would get a grunt and see his father eat a few bites. On the bad days, his father would cry or rage and throw the prepared food at him.

The agony the boy endured every day, just by living, was immeasurable. The animals helped where the humans hurt. The humans would taunt, tease, call him names, and treated him as a pariah. Adult and child alike.

Where the humans were bad for him, then the animals were perfect for him. His favorite animal thus far were the wolves. He didn't listen to the snide adults who called him crazy. Who swore he would get him and his father eaten. He knew that there were not supposed to be wolves in Northern California, but someone forgot to tell the wolves and he was grateful for that.

They would bring him a fresh kill, usually a rabbit or squirrel, when he was running low on food and funds for food.

They would lead him to places where wild tubers grew and berries were ripe. Best of all, they would sit with him and cuddle him when he got too lonely and cried to himself. He didn't often allow himself to have any self-pity, but once in a while he needed to cry and let all the hurt inside of him out.

As the boy's 16th birthday approached, his father fell ill. Each day his father grew weaker and happier. Stiles would often find his dad talking to his dead wife. Telling her that her son had grown into a good man and he hoped someday soon he would find someone new to take care of. As he was wasting his time and life caring for someone who has already been dead for close to six years.

How much he missed her and was ready to see her again. How the doctors and lawyers were trying to find a way to make him stay for Stiles' sake.

"He's a smart boy Claudia. He knows that I won't be here to see the sun when he turns 16, but I don't think he's happy with it. I just can't do it anymore. I was never meant to be without you and you were never meant to be without me. Fate has been unkind to us all, Stiles most of all. Hopefully when he finds love he will understand and forgive us."

As dawn approached on Stiles' birthday, his father committed his last act of violence upon the boy and had taken his last breath.

While lying in the hospital crying and getting his broken leg and arm cast he allowed the human's he had always tried to shun to approach him and lay a hand of sympathy on him. All muttering the same platitudes of sorrow he had heard when his mother had passed.

The courts worked to emancipate the boy as swiftly as they could. Where the law stated that he wasn't an adult until he was 18, mother nature saw to it that they saw where she stood.

"Do you have any allergies?"

"No."

"Insurance?"

"I-I'm not sure. I was covered by my father, but he passed and… I don't know."

"Did your father have any last wishes?" And so his day went. He answered the questions the best he could, but knew better than to sign anything. He would not be trapped in that way.

Four months after his father's death the wolves came to find him lying on top of his parent's graves, looking blank, and shivering against the cold seeping into his bones.

It had been six years to the day that the boy's life had been turned upside down and into something resembling a soap opera. His father's death had only brought more loneliness and heartache.

Not one person had stopped in to visit him since the funeral. No one had stood beside him and celebrated when he had graduated early. He could have stayed in school and been ahead of Lydia Martin, but that goal had seemed hollow and pointless, as he had watched his father join his mother.

The wolves came around more often though. Especially the dark brown one with the most amazing blue eyes. Stiles liked to think that he had actually understood him.

He came around almost every day. Stiles had taken to calling him Derek.

"I used to know a boy named Derek," Stiles confessed to the wolf. "His family moved away a bit before my mom died. I used to pretend that he was my friend. Shh, I beg of you not to tell him if he ever shows up again. I doubt he will though. He's probably married and has kids now. The thing I remember most about him is… he was always a grumpy, yet kind person. Oh, you can stop growling. A person can be grumpy and kind. I wonder why everyone I consider a friend moves away.

Scott moved away with his dad. His mom stayed here. You've met her, she was the nurse that did the check-ups on my dad. I know she misses Scott, even more than I do, but his dad had to be an asshole and enroll him in military school. The headmaster there made him stop writing me just before my dad died. He said I was a bad influence on him.

I'm glad I have you though. I don't want to think of a life without you. If you ever decide to leave me, please be kind and rip my throat out. I don't want to be lonely again."

Derek rumbled deep in his chest. Stiles liked to think that Derek had agreed, but he wouldn't tell anyone his belief. He didn't want to be institutionalized.

On the eve of the boy's eighteenth birthday he fell asleep, with Derek wrapped around him. The wolf's fur keeping him warm while he slept in the den the wolf had made for him.

Stiles had not been able to pay the property tax nor the inheritance tax for his house and had been warned that on his 18th birthday that the IRS and the State of California had no choice but to take his home.

It hurt Stiles to lose that connection to his parents, but he had some photos and a place to lay his head. Even if it was not his ideal home.

Anyway, he was away from the townspeople and tourists and more and more animals came around. (Unless it was close to mealtime.) He _did_ miss electricity (and not just for the internet) in the cave… den.

The week after he had turned legal, he began having strange dreams. Often featuring Derek riding him as he had witnessed the other wolves' doing to their mate. He turned him on and worried him. He had never thought to abuse an animal like that.

Not that he had been the one doing the fucking in his mind. He had taken the place of the bitch in his dreams and on more than one occasion he had woke up with a raging hard on.

Thankfully, Derek had always been out hunting at the time. It still made him question his sanity, sexuality, and kinks. A subject he had never thought of before.

Of course, that did not stop him from blushing when Derek brought in a rabbit for the hearth. The wolf would just look at him in clear confusion.

After a few days of this... Stiles was ready to snap.

"Derek, may we talk?" Stiles asked shyly as he cooked his latest culinary creation.

Derek sat there, waiting for the human to continue.

"I'm- I mean... I've been having some strange dreams lately," the young man started.

"No-no, nothing bad. You are not causing any troubles. The exact opposite, really." Stiles stammered out when Derek's earn pinned down and he looked... ashamed.

"I just; look I want to try something with you. Please, don't bite me."

Stiles licked his lips and grabbed the wolf's face. "Remember, no biting," he whispered before closing his and leaning in to place a chaste kiss on Derek's muzzle.

He scrambled back as quick as he could when Derek started to sneeze violently. He let out a muffled howl that was answered by the wolves outside. Stiles looked for a place to hide, in case the outside wolves decided to come in. He had never worried about the other wolves before today.

Tears ran down Stiles' face and he whimpered as Derek's howls got louder. The sound of pain was deafening. He could hear the wolf's bones break as he thrashed on the floor, knocking his body into the walls and small amount of furniture that was in the den. Derek knocked covers and books over his body and then he went eerily still and silent.

"Derek, please move. Just make a noise, move, or something. I'm sorry I kissed you. I won't do it again I swear. I-I can't lose someone else. Don't rip my heart out. I don't know if I'll survive it again." Stiles babbled as he slowly inched closer to where Derek had collapsed under the rubble.

Just as Stiles was about to touch the unmoving mound, a yell came from the entrance at his den, startling the young man.

"Derek? Derek where are you?" Stiles looked at the very nude woman in front of him. She was older than he was, much older, but still very fit and very beautiful for her age.

"Who? Who are you?" Stiles asked her timidly.

"Who are you and what have you done to my son?" She asked in return. 

Stiles sat there and shook his head. "Son? I mean, I'm Stiles and I'm sorry ma'am, but I don't know your son. I live alone with my wolf."

"Your wolf?"

"Yes, Derek... he's my wolf. Well, he owns me as much as I own him, but it's a human stance you understand," Stiles babbled to the woman in front of him. He hated humans; they lacked the manners animals seemed to inherently possess.

"Why would you call your wolf by my son's name?"

"I don't know who your son is, but I once had a friend named Derek. He moved away many years ago. I-I was just honoring a friend. Now, would you mind telling me who you are?"

"Talia Hale," she said tersely as she moved in and dug through the pile. Stiles didn't say anything to her, he had told her of Derek earlier, if he bites her, well it's her own fault.

You can imagine his surprise when not a wolf, but a naked adult male was unburied.

"What happened to Derek? Where is my wolf?" Stiles asked as he dove down to search for his companion.

"_This,_ is Derek. He's always been like this," she said with a smile as she ran her hands over the young man's face and head.

Stiles backed away from the duo shaking his head. "No, sorry, but _my_ Derek had fur and the most beautiful blue eyes."

"Yes, as a wolf he had blue eyes. Even though they are a different color, they are just as beautiful in this form. It has been so long since I've seen this face."

"Ma'am, No offense, but you're crazy. I'm glad that you found your son, but I need to go find my wolf. Good luck." Stiles turned on his toes and darted out of the den. He needed to find Derek. He had to make sure he was okay.

He ran through the forest for hours, calling Derek's name in hopes of attracting his wolf. He didn't understand where he would have gone, he had spilled his soul to the wolf. Surely, he would not have abandoned him. He... he couldn't believe that Derek would have done that to him. Even if he was only an animal... Derek had always cared about him. He listened to Stiles babble and complain. Stiles couldn't lose him. He just... what the fuck was his life without one ally, why was he even alive? What did he have to live for?

He curled up into a ball and let his grief wash over him. All the hurt, anger, and helplessness that Derek had been keeping at bay was finally coming to the forefront and there was no one and nothing that was there to help _him._

Just as he felt his wave of despair rise up in him; Derek, his wolf... not the woman's son, came trotting up to him. "Derek," he called out weakly.

Stiles stood and started to run to his wolf. When they were about ten feet apart, Derek suddenly shifted and... and his Derek was gone. "What?"

"It's okay Stiles, it's me. You've trusted me as a wolf, so trust me now."

"I don't understand. What's going on?" Stiles asked as he slowly backed away from his once most trusted ally.

Derek stopped and held up his hands in surrender. "I was cursed. Many years ago, when a woman felt I had wronged her. She knew what I was, but she felt that she knew of a cure. Well, she was sure; I told her there was no cure. When she found out, I was telling the truth... she cursed me to be just a wolf. I could and would understand everything and everyone around me, as if I were human, but I wouldn't be able to tell anyone anything. When you actually called me by my name, I thought you had seen through the curse. It was a fool's hope, but I could feel the pain you were going through."

Stiles frowned and stood up straighter. "I don't want your pity. I _never_ wanted _anyone's_ pity."

"It only started as pity. Trust me, it's something more now. I-I don't know if it's love, but it's something."

Stiles deflated and shook his head. "How can I trust you?"

"How can you not trust me? I listened to your secrets and I _stayed_. I know them all and I still want to have something, _anything_ with you. If you want me to change back into my wolf form and stay that way forever; I will. I just need to be near you. Please," Derek begged Stiles. He would willingly get on his hands and knees for this young man in front of him.

Stiles stepped forward and carefully cupped his wolf's...Derek's face and stared deep into his eyes. "What about that woman?"

Derek's brow creased and then raised in understanding. "My mother. Talia, the woman, is my mother. I wasn't the only one caught in the curse. My whole family was, but I was the only one who could break it. She... she was so mad because I stopped looking for someone when your mother passed. Well, she understood too. You had a pull on my whole family. They changed back when you kissed me. She... well she was afraid I had died. I wasn't dead though. You broke the curse. My pack and I owe you everything, but I'm greedy."

Stiles licked his lips and nodded to the words. "So she was, I mean _is_ your mother. Is she mad at me for kissing you?"

Derek shook his head and gave a chuckle. "My mother has been enamored of you since she first met you. She's our Alpha, it was her who decided that you needed help. She helped me set up our den and caught more than a few of the deer gifts in the past."

"Is your pack all family or is it werewolves from around the area?"

Derek just shrugged and answered honestly. "Well, where we were all cursed to be wolves, not all of us are werewolves; and yes, they are all family in one manner or another."

Stiles smiled and held out his hand. "I've always wanted a big family."

Derek took his hand and pulled him in for a deep and needy kiss. "Thank you" he whispered into Stiles mouth.

Stiles smiled and whispered, "Give me a happily ever after and I'll try to forgive you."

"One happily ever after coming up," Derek replied with a chuckle as he pulled Stiles in for another kiss. In Derek's mind, Stiles kiss was the best Happily Ever After any story could ever have.

~Fin~


End file.
